Tonev arrives after a season long chase

A year after trying and failing to sign him from Lech Poznan, Celtic have secured the services of Aleksandar Tonev from Aston Villa.  Tonev has blistering pace, a right footer who is usually used on the left, he is an archetypal counter-attacking player.

The player’s profile blossomed during the first six months of 2013, in particular after he scored a hat-trick for Bulgaria against Malta, which brought Villa and Celtic to the table.  The step-up to the English Premier League from playing a speciality role for Poznan was, not surprisingly, too much.

Aleksandar plays the same position as Georgios Samaras, albeit he’s a completely different type of player, but we will look to him to do the same job – be an out ball away from home in Europe.

Ronny will have seen him only from DVDs, so he’ll be keen to get him onto the pitch tomorrow morning for a run-out ahead of St Johnstone.  Let’s hope the manager likes what he sees….  It’s a worry. The most promising part of deal is that Aleksandar has a point to prove, I’d rather hungry players with a point to prove than those who’ve too much on the clock.

Welcome to Celtic, Aleks.

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